After the incredible high of the Earth Fayre, it was perhaps inevitable that we would come down with a bump. We went from the Earth Fayre to the Fire & Water Fayre at Bayfield, near Holt and the atmosphere there just was not the same. A group of bus driving nihilists who called themselves "the convoy" descended on the site and aggressively established their territory. These individuals were to be instrumental in destroying the very fabric of the fayres and I am convinced that some of them were paid agitators and agent provocateurs - but that's another story.
The Ox were low on inspiration for this show. We had a spectacular central image - "The Ship of Fools" - a pine split ship which when covered in straw soaked in petrol would provide a spectacular finish to the show. But the images and ideas we came up with for the action which was to take part on this ship of fools just didn't seem to hang together. The atmosphere within the company degenerated somewhat, which I admit was partly my fault, because I was pushing for a more theatrical show with clearly scripted scenes and links and people just wanted to apply our winning formula again. The problem with our wonderful anarchic "hit & miss" approach was that when it hit it was wonderful, but when it died, it really died! Luckily, I think it only truly died on two occasions - this was one of them.
Perhaps I am being hard on the show, which was my least favourite of the Ox shows. The theatricals leading up to the burn may have been poor by our standards, but the final image was still spectacular and we still got congratulated on a great show. I just thought that maybe we didn't deserve it this time. I am convinced that the weird atmosphere on site had a lot to do with... that and our refusal to admit our exhaustion at having to come up with yet another improvised spectacular. Certainly tensions ran high at this fayre and I think that this was the show at which Helen announced that she would no longer be involved in performances as a member of the Ox. (Although she would go on to do her own things at various other fayres). This was partly a tension thing between me and Helen, which I did not fully understand and really regretted back then. I still regret that split, as Helen had qualities that I respected and admired. We still saw her around at other fayres, but she and I would remain cold towards each other until she saw my genuine enthusiasm for her wonderful re-birthing show the following summer.
Oh well, enough said about this unmemorable -for me at least- fayre.